Posted By:
edacra
I seem to recall the original pitch for these grading companies was simply to standardize the practice and then seal it's purity from further damage. You were supposed to start treating baseball cards like specimens. That was really it.
At that time, you would walk through a National Convention and struggle to find anyone who was pricing acurately according to the cards condition. High book was common on anything above a VG. I recall the grading on prewar cards being a bit more honest, accept with HOF'ers or anything a dealer deemed worthy of putting in a screwdown holder. Off condition cards just weren't much cheaper, and many (not all) Dealers would tell you to take a hike if you tried to haggle over a card you thought deserved a grade of "Poor".
Grading companies never really did deliver on their promise to standardize the hobby, but you can go and at least now you can buy a Babe Ruth card with a staple hole priced proportionately.